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Dr. Colmaris
SERMON
At the publick Lecture
Befion^ September 4. 1746.
.--.>^;:vf
The Vanity of Man as Mortal
SERMON
Preach'd at the Lc^ure in Boftoti, September 4. 1746.
In the
Audience of the General Courts
The Morning before the Funeral
Of the Honourable
M" Frances Shirley
Confort to His Excellency
William Shirley Efq;
Captain General and Commander in Chief of His
Majesty's Vx^VwiZtoix^LitMaJfachufetts-Bay^ Sec.
By Benjamin Colman^ d.d.
Pulvts et Umbra futnus.
Vi<vere Ji re6le nefcis^ difcede peritis.
BOSTON:
Printed by Rogers and -fonxle^ for D. Henchman
in Cornhill. Mdccxlvi.
_J
.^^f^^'-
The Vanity of Man
as Mortal.
Pfalm Lxxxix. 47.
Remember how JJjort my 7\me is :
Wherefore hajl Thou made all
Men in vain !
TO expreft my fatherly Tendernefs to my
dear Colleague on his Jirft Turn in this
public LeSlurCy I do at his earneft
Requeft in Feeblenefs and Fear venture
to appear once more in this your Au-
dienccy ( my Honoured, Reverend and Beloved
Hearers ) to bewail and improve as I am able
the Breach which the Sovereign and Holy GOD has
been pleafed to make this W^eek^ not only on His
Excellency our Governour and his bereaved Fa-
mily y but alfo on our felveSy the Town and Province^
in the Death of His Excellent Lady and Confort ;
who firft in her more private Life among us, and
fince
6 The Vanity of Man
ifecein hffr exalted State, has exhibited to us fa
much of the virtuous and gracious Woman\, wltK
whofe Charadter the wife Solomon^ under a DivirlO
Jnfpiratiofty clofes his admirable Book of Proverbs ;
.^ " Whom who can find ? faid the Man of ex-
alted Wifdom and Knowledge : — " Her Price is
«' ^hove Rubies ! The Heart of her Hujband doth
•' of Spoil : She will do him good and no evil
" all the Days of her Life : She is like
*' the Merchants Ships^ fhe bringcth her Food
*^ from afar : She rifeth while it is yet Night,
*V and giveth-M^^ to her Houjhold^ and a
«^ Pordon to \\tx Maidens : She confidereth a"^Fr^7^
«' and buyeth it ; with the Fruit of her Hands
*' fhe planteth a Vineyard : She girdeth her
*« Loins with Strength, and ftrengthneth her Arms :
*« She perceiveth that her Merchandize is good^
*' her Candle goeth not out by Night : She
*' ftretcheth out her Hand to the Poor, fhe reach-
*' eth forth her Hands to the Needy : She .is not
*' afraid of the Snow for her Houfhold, for they
<« are all clothed with Scarlet : She maketh her
*' felf Coverings of Tapefiry^ her Clothing is Silk
^' and Purple : Her Hujband is known ia the
«' Gates^ when he fitteth among the Bldcrs of the
*' Land : — Strength and Honour are her Cioath-
*' ing, and Ihe fhall rejoice in Time to coriie :
" She openeth her Mouth with Wifdom, and ip
*' her Tongue is the Law of Kindnefs : She look-
<' eth well to the Ways of her Houfhold, and eat-
" eth not the Bread of Idlenefs : Her Children rife
" up and call her blejfed, her Hujband alfo and he
" praifeth her : Many Daughters have done ver-
" tubufly, but Thou excelled them all. Favour is
*' deceitful and Beauty is vain, but a Woman that
fearetb
as Mortal 7
« feareth the Lord llie fhall be fraifei : Give her
*« of the Fruit of her Hands^ and Jet ^^r ew»
'' /F^r/^j praife Her in the Gates,
I know You are before me, my Hearers^ in the
Application of this high and Jlrong Character to the
deceafed Madam Shirley -, nor will I prefume to
add a Word by Way of Charafter to this infpir'd
and exalted Encomium. — Take it, and divide it
among your felves^ Ye venerable Matrons and
Daughters of New-England I And may the moft
Amiable and Honoured Daughters of the Deceased
ever eminently appear and fhine in thofe Ornaments
of the Daughters of Zion.
— But alas ! my Hearers^ that whenever it pleaf-
es the GOD of the Spirits of all Flelh to forra
fuch a Charadler in his Church below ; and lend
fuch a Son or Daughter for a few Days, to ferve
in their Generation by His holy Will -, that we
muft needs return fo foon to the Words of my
'I'ext^ and fpread them before the Lord in the Pre-^
fence of all his People \— " Remember how fhort
*' my "Time is ! Wherefore haft Thou made all Men
" in vain ? What Man is He that liveth andjhall
*^ not fee Death ! Shall he deliver his Soul from the
if Hand of the Grave ?
Who the Writer of this Pfalm was, or when it
was written is uncertain. It may feem by the me-
lancholly Conclufton of it, from the 38 th Verfe -, to
have been wrote by fome holy Man of GOD about
the Time of the Bahylonifh Captivity ; when the
Glory of the Houfe of David was made to ceafe^ and
his Throne caft down to the Ground, — The Promifes
of GOD to David^ and his Covenant refpeding his
■"■"^ " ^oli.fe.
8 "The Vanity of Man
Houfe are inlarged on in the firft 37 Verfes of .the
Pfalm \ and the Faithfulnefs of GOD to his Pro-
mifes are fung of, with the utmoll Affurance^ thro'
that long Period : Yet how to reconcile the pre*
ient Face of Providence with thofe Promifes, was
beyond the Force of the pious Pfalmift'*s Penetra-
tion : He therefore drops it, leaving it to the Mofl
High and Holy and 'True to fulfil his Word in his
own Way and Time : He therefore betakes himfelf
to Prayer for the Royal Houfe^ and for the Church
cf GOD imbark'd in the Fate thereof ; and for
Himfelf alfo as One of GOD's Ifrael who would
be his Remembrancer for Sion ; — " Remember bow
*' fhort my Time is ? Wherefore haft thou made all
•' Men in vain ? — Where are thy former Loving-
" kindneffes which thou fwearejl unto David in thy
*' Truth ?
Moft obfervable in thefe Words is the humble
Freedom us'd by the Pfalmift in putting GOD as it
were in Mind^ befeeching Him to remember ! as
if it were a Thing poffible for His infinitely know-
ing Mind ever to forget I — and he prefumes (as
it were) to bring to GOD's Remembrance a very
known Thing and common ; how Jhott his Time
was, and the Time of all Men is !
See what a Liberty in Prayer GOD indulges to
his People, to fpeak /<?-Him and^/Him after their
own Manner -, as a Child to his Father^ or a Marv
to his Friend ! So He overlooks the Infirmity
and the Impropriety of their Words, and accepts
gracioufly what Faith and Love mean well*
And yet the Pfalmifi's Freedom before the Throne
of Grace goes further^ and he even dares to expof-
tulate
as Mortal. g
tulate with the High GOD upon the outward Face
of his Government ; — " Wherefore hajl thou made
all Men in vain ? So he pour'd out his Com-
fylaint before the Lord, and fhewed before him his
'Trouble,
But far, far be it from us to cenfure the pious
and fervent Servant of the Lord, or to think his
Words amifs I — elfe in a holy Refentment one
might be ready to anfwer, " IVho art thou^ O Ma?j^
'' that repliejl againfl GOB ? Or who fhall fay
" to Him^ what doeft Thou ! Shall the Thing form-
ed, fay unto Him that formed it, IVhy haft thou
made me thus ? I will anfwer thee^ GOD is greater
than Man ! Why dofl thou ftrive with him ? for
He giveth no Account of his Matters.
But fuch a Return as this to the Pfalmift^s
Words, were to fuppofe them chargeable with Ir-
reverence or Difcontent before GOD -, which was
far from him. — And yet the Freedom taken in
expofiidating in Prayer on fo Great a Point as the
making Man and all Men ! as if it might but feem
to be in vain, though it may not be called any con-
tending with his Maker,, refpeding his Work,, as if
he had no Hands \ or a charging GOD foolijhly
with that which really He had no Hand in ; but
Man muft take wholly to himfelf, having brought
all the Vanity upon Himfelf by his Sin : — Yet it
muft be confefTed to be a very great Liberty taken
by Duft and Alhes, and a wonderful hirtance of
GOD's overlooking the Infirmity, winking at the
Ignorance and accepting the Prayer •, for He
confiders that we are Duft ; and we cannot ftrain
the Matter in the leaft beyond the Prophet Jere-
w/^/^'s Meaning, in his xiith Chapter, ift Verfe.
B Righteous
lo "The Vanity of Ma7t
Righteous art thoii^ O LORD ! yet let me reafon
with Thee of thy Judgments,
But pafTing the Manner of the Pfdmifih expref-
fmg himfelf, let us attend to the JDo^rinal Truths
fuggcfted to us in his Words •, which are of the
lad Importance to us to remember daily, keep in
Mind, ponder and improve : i. That our Time
here in the Body is very Jhort : 2. So fhort as
may fometimes make us ready to think of our
felves and others, that v/c are made in vain ! And
if it were not for the Relation which our prcfent
Life bears to a future and everlafting State^ it might
juftly be thought fo.
The frjl of thefe Do brines is fo obvious a Truth,
that there needs very little to be /aid on it ; how
much foever we ought always to remember it our
felves, and may daily carry before GOD the Re-
membrance of it ; « " LORDy how Jhort my Time
is !
The Holy Ghost admonifhes us of it by the
Pen of the Apo§lle that we may never forget it ;
*' Brethren^ the Time is Jhort^ and the Fajhion of
this World paffeth away, i Cor. vii. 29. The
blefled Spirit of Grace isalfo often telling us how
fhort., in fuch Words as if the Thing could not
well be told ; " it is but as the Shuttle pqffing thro*
the Loom -, it is but as a Hand breadth^ and our Zge
as nothing before GOD and in our own Eyes,
Pfal. xxxix. 5.
The Time o^ fome of the Sons and Daughters
of Men is fo fhort., that they expire in the Womb.,
sad never draw a Breath : How much in vain
may
as Mof^lal.
II
may thcie untimely Births feem ! Who knows the
Way of the Spirit or his Mind^ in animating the
curious Body which it frames in y^rr^/, never to fee
this Light of ours ! Yet is it not done in vain !
No, the Spirit of thefiill horn Babe returns to GOD
that gave it, the Father of Spirits -, and therefore
is not made in vain.
Others die from the Womh ; juft fee the Light,
or fetch a Breath or two, gafp and are gone ! or
]ive a Month or Year, and their Angels take Um^
which behold the Face of their Father in Heaven.
Their few Minutes, Days, or Weeks are not in
vain ; for you know who has faid. Mat. xix. 14.
Suffer the little Ones to come to me^ for of fuch is my
Kingdom .
What Multitudes of the Human Ofrspring die
in Childhood, within the firfl five\, feven, or ten
Years of Life ! They hve to -leave the Breaft^ lifp
at a Word of Love^ run to the Mother's Knee ;
begin to know a Uttle, to read and fay a Prayer,
and die as they begin to be the Hope and Light
and Joy of their Parents : — It is computed that a
third die not two Years okl, and one half that are
born before five : Yet not in vain has the fliort
Life been, if we may fee 'em one Day in Heaven ;
the Pains of hearing and Sorrows of burying will
be well rewarded.
So if they die in blooming Touth^ juft begin-
ning to bear and promifing good Fruity or having
yielded fome^ they have not been in vain ; but
are in Favour taken, although it be from a Crown
on Earth, like young Abijahy becaufe there was
B 2 ibms
12 l^he Vanity of Man
fome good Thing found in him toward the Lord
God of Ifrael.
Or to give the Reverfe^ — if they die in Tottth
and their Life has been among the Unclean \ (as
Bildad faid to Job) and GOD has caji them away
in their Tranfgrefiion \ yet may we not fay they
were made in vain ! no, though it be in Truth
much worfe than in vain ! — for what if GOD wil-
ling to fhew his Wrath fnatch away the VefTel fit-
ted for Deflru5fion fooner or later ! All Flefh muft be
Jilent before Him ! but hoW much more will Aaron
hold his Peace, and Eli anfwer, "• It is the Lord,
let Him do what feemeth Him good.
Or again, if an Hezekiah or a Jofiah be called
to die in the midft of Life^ Honour and Ufeful-
nefs ; we miuft not chatter like the Crane^ or much
worfe, and fay, " Why were the golden Veffels
formd and Ihown in vain ? No, far otherwife :
GOD will remember how they have walked before
Uim^ while they and others may inourn in the cutting
cff their Days ; yea while the Church it felf may
lament as in our Context^ " Thou haft cafl off thine
*■ Anointed^ thou hdSk. frofaned his Or own ^ thou hall
*' fhortned his Bays,
To add no more, — At full and Old Age the
Time is fhort \ at three and f our f core Years it is
foon cut off^ and we flee away ^ as the Ffalmift tru-
ly fings : Pfalm xc. : We have gained fo little
Knowledge and Grace, we have done fo little Good
in the World j we have been guilty of fo much
£yil, and have feen it may be fo many Sorrows ;
ihat with %\iz venerable Patriarch we muft look
'' back
as Mortal.
^3
back and fay, " Few and evil have the Days ef
the Tears of my Pilgrimage been.
But if we live gracekfs and wicked to the Days
of Old Age^ O then how have they been in vain^
and pajfed away in GOD's Wrath ! For wherefore
do the Wicked live, become old and grow mighty
in Power ! — An untimely Birth is better than be^
and the Sinner a hundred Years old is but the more
accurfed ! His Days are fpent as a Tale that is
told, and according to his Fear fo is GOD*s Wrath !
Mark him, and be ajlonied and lay thy Hand on
thy Mouth ! — Dare not even in this fad Cafe
to fay, " This Monument of Sin has been made
and fpared in vain ! No, there's a Judgment to
come, and remember the Days of Darknefs^ for
they fhali be many.
You fee, my Hearers^ that there is a Necefllty
of judging by Faith^ and not by Sight -, all the
while we live^ and when we die : if there were no
other Life after this, the fhort or long finful
hurtful Lives of one and another in every Age and
Place, were much worfe than in vain ! The Sin-
ners have only defirofd much Good^ and it had been
better both for themfelves and others that they had
never been born. — But it will not be found fo in
•the End \ the Glory of GOD and the Good of the
Univerfe will be found well anfver*d in the Day of
Judgment •, as we are told Prov. xvi. 4. The Lord
has made all Things for Himfelf^ even the Wicked for
the Day of evil.
But if we bound our Sight within the prefent
Scene of Things, and look not to the Things unfeen
and eternal y there might then feem Reafon
enough
14 ihe Va7tity of Ma7i
(Enough for the fad Exclamation^ " O why are all
Men thus made in vain ! — If we confider only
the worldly Circumftances, and prefent goodly Ap-
pearance of Perfons and Families ; if we call up a
Job and his lovely Train of Sons and Daughters
from the Dead^ and view them on the Day of
their Devotion and feafting together, buried toge-
ther in the Ruins of the fallen Houfe ! and he
that Yefterday fat in the Gate^ in all the outward
State and inward Morning of a fuperior and righ-
teous Judge •, ^ his Glory frejh in Him, and Men
'' giving Ear and waiting and keeping Silence at
*' his Counfel ; " tbey waited for Him as for the
'' Rain, and opened their Mouth wide as for the
** latter Rain ; (" the Oracle and Barling of his
*' Country *) when the Ear heard him it bleffed
" him, and when the Eye faw him it gave Wit-
*'. nefs to him •, He put on Righteoufnefs and it
*' clothed him, and his Judgment was to him for
*' *a Robe and Diadem I But to morrow he is
feen with CompalTion and Surprize, a Spe^acle
of Poverty, Dijlrefs and Woe ; flript of Efiate and
Family, without a Child or almoft a Servant to at-
tend him *, deformed alfo by a gafily Bifeafe and
covered with putid Sores, lb as not to be known
by his Friends -, fo that they lift up their Voice^
and waiVd him ! — And had he died in this Extre-
mity, had he been form'd and rais^'d in vain ?
No 1 he had ferv'd bis Generation glorioufly by
the Will of GOD, and knew that bis Redeemer
liv'd, whom he Ihould fee for Himfelf one Day
upon the Earth *, and his Eyes fhould behold bim^
though now his Reins were confuming within him :
Job xix. 25, 26. He was a Type of his Redeemer
* Mr. Henry,
m
as Mortal. 15
in his Sorrows, and is with Him in his Joys^
and will come with Him in his Glory, in the Day
of the Reftitution of all Things •, when this Cor-
ruptible ihall put on Incorruption, and this mortal
Immortality, and Death will he fwallow'd up in
Vi5lory, i Cor. Chap. xv.
Let us recur in our Meditation to the tragical
"Dying of righteous Abel in his early Piety, or to
the placid Death-Bed of aged Jacob with his Sons
about him, and his Jofeph clofing his Eyes with
Tears and Kiffes : thefe very different Views of
Death agree in this, that neither of them fhow the
Good Man made in vain ; but equally to the
heft that can be propofed by GOD or conceiv'd
by us.
Let us view (I fayj righteous Abel in all the
Charms of florid l^ouih and Grace together, one
Day with his Sacrifice at the Altar of GOD, and
a Light from Heaven fhining around him and ir-
radiating his beauteous Face ! And the next Day
view him cover'd with Gore, deform'd with gaft-
ly Wounds, befmear'd with Dirt and Blood I ^ how
had his early Piety and high Devotion feem'd^ in
vain -, but for the Crown of Martyrdom remaining
to him in a future eternal Life ! and at the Head
of the noble Army of Martyrs, Confeflbrs of the
Lamb flain in the midft of the Throne ! Rev. vii.
14. Thefe are they that come out of great Tribula-
" tion, and have wafhed their Robes and made 'em
" white- in the Blood of the Lamb : Therefore are
" they before the Throne of GOD, and ferve him
" Day and Night in his Temple ! they fhall
*' hunger no more, nor ikirif any more, &c.
But
js6 The Vanity of Man
But let us pafs from the Blood of Ahel^ crying-
from the Earth againft his Brother ; unto the Death-
Bed of aged Jacobs the good old Patriarch willing
to be gone, waiting for the Salvation of GOD^ de-
firing to depart (Tike blefled Paul 2300 Years after
him) and to be with Chrijl^ as far the better 5
calling his Sons to take his parting Prayer, to blefs
them all together, and every One apart and by
Name •, his Jofeph alfo in the midft of them, and
Judah even greater than he in the Benedidlion,
but not in Befert ; for the Reward is of Grace.
View (I fay) this Jacob wreflling for the BlefTing
even in his Mother's Womb^ as well as with the
jdngel long after and prevailing, as a Prince that
had Power with GOD ! Confider him in his con-
tinual Advances in Wifdom and Communion with
GOD unto old Jge ; his hoary Head and wrinkled
Brow a Crown of Glory ^ in the Ways of Righte-
oufnefs and Devotion : — Add to him fuch of his
Sons as were moft like Him in their Generations, in
their advanced Years alfo and Improvements in
Grace ; — J^f^ph-i Mofes^ Jofhua^ Samuel^ David \
with Elias that never faw Death, and his SucceiTor
Elifha more magnificent on his Death-Bed than the
King and all his Court gather'd about it, and own-
ing Him as much the Chariot of Ifrael as his Ma-
fler Elijah had been before him : Add to thefe
the New-'feflament Elias., with his Head in a Charger
and more than a Prophet ; and think how Simeon
cxpir'd, with the Holy Child Jesus in his Arms,
fay fome : and imagine alfo the Tranfporis of a
Stephen ftoned under the Viftons of Jesus through
the open'd Heavens, and (landing on the Right
Hand of GOD ! And add to all your Thoughts
of the Joys of the Beloved of Jesus, St. John and
Paul^ as the Time of their Departure came on !
Contemplate
as Mortal. 17
Contemplate all thefe in the Shades of Death ^ after
their ferving their Generations by the Will of
GOD ; and although their Labour and Suffering
were not at all in vain in the Lord ; neverthelefs
if it were not for their Relation to a better Country^
that is an heavenly^ and their Inheritance with the
Saints in Lights at the Head of zvhom thefe fhine ;
— What would they have thought of their Lif^
here below ? however eminently happy and ufefu!^
and honour'd of GOD they were in Comparifon'
of others I So Jacob paus'd, and took Breath,
in the midft of his blejfing his Sons, in that happy"
Parenthefis^ " I have waited for thy Salvation^ O
Lord. — And fuch had been the Faith and Hope
and Joy of his dying Fathers^ the Patriarchs be-
fore him ; as the Aposlle to the Hebrews tells us,
Heb. xi. 13, 15. 'Thefe all died in Faith ^ defiring a
better Country^ that is a Heavenly ; conf effing them-^.
felves Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.
But though we may thus make fome Allowance
to the befi of Men, or fome Kind of Excufe for
them, after the befi Life of Services to GOD and
Communion with Him, that has been attained in
this Earth of ours ; if upon their Review of all
that they have known of GOD or done for his
Name, they readily own the Vanity and Emptinefs
of it all ; if it were not for their fure and certain
Hope of a higher and better Life, referved for them
in Heaven^ after the DiiTolution of their Bodies ;•
•— yet we muft recoiled our felves, and affirm con-
flantly, that "Thefe among the Sons and Daughters
of Men, (the whole EleBion of Grace, the Ele5l
Lady and her Children as well as John himfelf )
have by no Means been made in vain ! no, far
otherwife ^ their Labours have not been in vain
C ia
1 8 The Fa7tity of Man
in the Lord, but their Works follow them, and
will be openly acknowledged and gloriouQy reward-
ed in the Day of Christ -, and their Charities to
his poor Members in particular, while they will flill
call themfelves unprofitable Servants : Matth. xxv.
34, &c. " Then Ihall the King fay to them on his
*' right Hand^ Come ye hlejfed of my Father^
*' inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the
" Foundation of the World ; for I was hungry
*' and ye gave me Meat^ thirjly and ye gave me
*' Brink •, a Stranger and ye took me in, naked
*' and ye clothed me •, I was fick and ye vifited
" me •, I was in Prifon and ye came to me.
" Then fhall the Righteous anfwer, " Lord, when
" did we fo ! And the King fliall reply,
*' Verily I fay unto you, in as much as ye have
*' done it unto one of the lead of thefe my Ere-
^[ thren^ ye did it unto Me.
But we muft go on yet much further in the
Argument before me, and fay,— GOD has made
nothing in vain^ and much lefs Man : no not fo
much as one Jingle Perfon, greater or lefs, better or
worfe, in vain : — Far be it from Him, whofe Work
is perfe^ ; and nothing can hinder his everlafting
Glory from it ! no, not the Sin and Mifery of any
of his Creatures, Men or Devils,
How far was Man in his firji Eftate from being
made a vain Creature ! He was made a living
Soul, in the Image of GOD ; an immortal^ Spirit,
wife holy and happy -, and for an everlafting In-
creafe in Knowledge and Holinefs and Bleffednefs,
in a Life of Worfhip a7%d Obedience : — And altho'
by Sin he foon fubjefted himfelf, and the Creatures
under his Feet, to the Vanity and Bondage of Death
and
as Mortal. 19
and Corruption ; — and although the mojl of the
Children of Jdam are wilfully perijhing in their
fpiritual Corruption ; yet there is an Eleclion of
Grace in whom GOD will glorify his Holinefs and
Mercy for ever and ever, by recovering them here
to a State of Communion with Himfelf, preparatory
for and an Earnefl of the Tranflation of their
Souls at Deaths and after the RefurreBion Soul
and Body united to the Vifions of his Glories ia
Heaven.
Then every Mark and Sign of Sin and Vanity
fhall be done away for ever ; and the Redeemed
from our Earth fhall fhine forth in the Kingdom
of their Saviour^ in the Paradife above, in more
than transfgur'd Bodies -, and in what irradiated
Souls ! — how much fairer and brighter than
Adam and Eve at firft in the Garden of God be-
low ; in their Innocence^ Integrity and earthly
Happinefs ! in what Knowledge, Purity and Joy !
like that of the holy Angels who (land and minif-
ter ( with covered Faces ) before the Throne : ac-
cording to what we read Pfalm xvi. ult. There-
fore my Heart is glad and my Glory rejoices ;
my Fleflj alfo fhall reft in Hope •, thou wilt floem
me the Path of Life \ in thy Prefence is Fulnefs
^f Joy-, and at thy right Hand are Pleafures for
evermore. Rev. xxii. 3, 4, 5. " And there fhall
" be no more Curfe, but the Throne of GOD and
" of the Lamb fliall be in it, and his Servants
" Ihall ferve Him ! and they fhall fee his Face^
" and his Name fhall be in their Foreheads !
^' and there fhall be no Night there ; for the
*' Lord God giveth them Light j and they fliall
[^j'eign for ever and ever.
C 2 Here
20 The Vanity of Man
Here let our View of Sin and Death and Va-
fiity end as to the righteous ; for here mud be
the Abolition of it for ever and ever, as to them \
*' Mortality being /wallowed up of Life. This is
the Recitation of all Things, 'and of Man to his
PoiTeffion of the heavenly Inheritance^ purchafed
by Jesus Christ for his Ele^ and them for it.
. O how far then will the leafl of thefe feem
from having been made in vain., in this Day of .
the " Manifeftation of the Sons and Daughters of
GOD ? O to what a glorious Purpofe will it
then appear, that Man was created in the Likenefs
and Love of GOD ? fince out of his fallen Loyns
GOD has raifed fo many Children to eternal
Glories ! of whom He has faid, and will fay
for ever, " Ye are my Sons and Daughters,
faith the Lord Almighty, See their Num-
her and Glory., and hear their Songs of Joy,
and read their endlefs Blifs : Revel, vii. 9, 10,
15, 16, 17. " After this I beheld, and lo a
-*' great Multitude^ which no Man can number^
'^' of all Nations^ and Kindreds and People and
^^ Tongues, flood before the Throne and before
*' the Lamb -, clothed with white Robes and
'^ with Palms in their Hands ; and cried with
*' a loud Voice, fliying ; Salvation to our GOD
" which fitteth upon the Throne and to the
" Lamb ! Thefe are they that came out of
" great Tribulation., and h^vt wafhed their Robes
'^^ and made them white in the Blood of the
^' Lamb : therefore are they before the
*' Throne of GOD, and ferve Him Day and
^' Night in his Temple ; and He that ftttetb
*' on the Throne fhall dwell among them !
" diey fliall hunger no mor?^ nor thirjl any
^^ more j
as Mortal. 2x
" more ; neither fhall the Sun light on them,'
*^ nor any Heat •, for the Lamh which is in
" the midft of the Throne fhall lead them to
" Hving Fountains of Waters ; and GOD fhall
" wipe away all Tears from their Eyes.
USE. And fo I come to make fome prac-
tical Reflexions on this vain Life of Man, in
his corriipted Fle/h^ which GOD had no Hand
in ! this Vanity of Man as mortal^ which is
altogether of Himfelf
And is it as we have been hearing, that our
Time here on Earth is fo very fljort^ and our
State fo vain becaufe fo very finful ^ fo that
we may be ready at times to think and fay of
it, in our moft ferious Frames and Hours, — -
" O why is Man made thus altogether, as it
were, for Nought and in vain ? fo abandoned
to Sin and Mifery^ and void of Goodnefs and
Happinefs ? — Yet let us recover out of this
falfe Medium^ whereby the Sight of GOD and
of our Selves is obfcured •, — that we may make
a juft and righteous Improvement of the Infeli-
cities we have brought upon our Selves.
Firfl then, What a dreadful Thing is Sin ? and
what a Punifhment of it is Mortality and Death.
Man little underflood or weighed the Warning
given him in his State of Innocence ; '^ In the Day
thou eate§f^ thou fhali furely die. The firft Sight
of Death on the Beafts flain in Sacrifice, was with-
out Doubt not a little affeding to our firft Parents^
but the hideous Face of it in their lovely Jbel flruck
(hem with a Horror not to be imagined.- — The
Sorrows
2 2 T'he Vanity of Man
Sorrows of lurying her Sons chang'd the fair Na-
omi into an unknown Thing ; " Is this 'Naomi ?
And yet thefe are but the lighter Part of the Curfe,
which the mod pious are fubjed to, and Faith has
many a Time born glorioully : Luke xii. 4. " I
*' fay unto you my Friends^ Fear not them that
'' can kill the Body, and after that have no more
*' that they can do ! but I will forewarn you
*' Whom you fhall fear ! Him thai can cajl the
*' Soul into Hell \ I fay unto you fear Him,
Yet alas, how is Sin punifh^d in us, and before our
Eyes, in the prefent Life I " Call for the mourn-
*' ing Women, faid the gracious Prophet, for Death
*' is in the Streets, and at our Windows ! — It tears
the fucking Child from the Mother^s Breaft, and
the Defire of the Eyes with a Stroke from the Arms
of her Hujhand. The tender Soul of Jesus was
moved exceedingly as he faw the Widow following
her Son to the Grave, and he wept at the Grave of
Lazarus, Alas, how is Sin punifli'd in us, in the
Sicknejfes and Pains and Corruption which often
preceed Death, as well as in the Putrefadlion that
always follows it. What Months of Vanity were
appointed to Job, and wearifome Nights ? Job vii.
3. His Flefh was clothed with Worms and Clods of
Dufl j his Skin broken and become loathfome.
Chap. X. 9, 18. Remember I befeech thee, that
thou haft made me as the Clay, and wilt thou
bring me into Buff again ? Wherefore then haft
thou brought me out of the Womb ? O that
i had givdfn up the Ghojl^ and no Eye had feen
me.
Secondly, The vainer our Life is, and the fhorter
our Time, the more let us be excited to a holy
Care and Vigilance, that it may not fsem to our
felves
as Mortal. 23
felves or others, to have been altogether loji and in
vain : But let ns indeed think our felves made in
vain^ if the End of Life be not in fome Meafure
confider^d by us, anfwer'd and attained : Elfe (as
the wife Solomon fays) an untimely Birth is better \
better than //<?, the Days of whofe Years are many
and his Soul not filled with Good done in them ;
for he Cometh in with Vanity^ and departeth in
Darknefs, and his Name fhall be covered with
Barknefs^ Ecclef vi. 4. To let a Jhort Life run
away in Vanity and Sin, in doing nothings or in
doing evil ; in the Negledt of GOD and our
Souls, and to the Dilhonour and Wrong of both ;
— what an egregious Piece of Folly and Wick-
ednefs muft it be ! as it is reprefented and bewail-
ed in the xcth Pfalm^ from the 5th Verfe ; " For
" we are confumed by thine Anger, and by thy
" Wrath we are troubled / thou haft fet our
" Iniquities before thee, our fecret Sins in the
" Light of thy Countenance ! for all our Days
" arc paiTed away in thy Wrath ; we fpend our
" Years as a Tale that is told ! — Who knowetb
" the Power of thy Anger^ even according to
" thy Fear fo is thy Wrath ! So teach us to
" number our Days, that we may a^-^ly our Hearts
*' unto Wifdom,
To Man GOD fays, — " This is Wifdom \
O that they were wife, that they underftood this^
and would confider their latter End ! The wife
Servants of GOD have ever done it and been
wife to Salvation : More efpecially the Son of
the Higheft, when he took our mortal Flefh, was
made Sin for us, and came into our World to
die ; he quickened himfelf once and again, for
our Sakes, and to give us an Example, from
this
24 ^^ Vanity of Man
this Motive •, " I maft work the Work of Him
*' that fent me, while it is Bay ; the Night
*' Cometh wherein no Man can work ! And a-
gain, ■ " I have a Baptifm to be baptifed
** with, and how am I ftraitned till it be ac-
" complifhed. — The Bifciples of JESUS might
•well kern this of Him, and teach it to others ;
as we read in the Epiftles of St. Peter and Paul :
" I will not be negligent to put you always in
•' Remembrance of thefc Things -, yea, I think
*< it meet as long as I am in this Taherjuicle of
*' Clay, to ftir you up •, knowing that I alfo
** muft Jhortly put off this my Tabernacle as
*' the Lord hath fhewed me ! — This I fay
*' therefore. Brethren, the Time is jloort ! it re-
*' maineth that both they that have fVives be
*' as though they had ?tone -, and they that weep
*' as though they wept not, and they that rejoice
*' as though they rejoiced not, and they that l^uy
*' as though they pofTefTed not, and they that
'' ufe the World as not ahujing it, becaufe the
" FaJJoion of it paffeth away.
^Thirdly, Let us the rather take a thankful No-
tice to the Glory of GOD, that the Life of
Some is not fo much in vain as that of many
others. — They have much fooner began to live
to GOD, they have through Grace done more
for Him ih^ few Days they have lived, and it
may be their ufeful Lives have been prolonged. —
So the Face of Abraham-, Ifaac, and Jacob, and
Jofeph fhone before the Princes among whom they
fojourn'd ! And fo fhone the Face of Mofes and
Aaron before the Congregation of Ifrael in the
Wildernefs, and Caleb's alfo and Joffjua then and
in the Land of Canaan : after them alfo Samuel
and
as Mortal. 25
and David ferv'd their Generation hy the Will of
God ! but above all in the Days of the New
Tejiament blefTed Paul " was in Labours more
" abundant, and Christ was magnified in his
*' Body^ in Life and Death. — The Glory muft be
*' given to GOD, and was fo : Not /, but the Grace
*' of GOD in me ; but the Comfort belongs to the
" Believer in Jesus, and it is great in Life or
" Death ; nor can it be in vain in the Lord.
" I Cor. XV. uU. Wherefore my beloved Brethren^
" be ye ftedfafl^ 'unmoveable and always abounding
" in the Work of the Lord.
Here therefore I might have added and muft
add, I. The lefs Life has been in vain^ the more
Comfort in our Death and in the Death of our
deareft Friends ; when GOD takes them away
from us, or calls us to take leave of them. —
O in what Serenity and Peace are fuch at Times
enabled to bid farewell and breathe their laft ?
as I am told the Excellent Perfon whofe Remains
we follow to the Grave this Afternoon^ was
enabled by Grace to do ! to the Admiration of
thofe that miniftred about her Bed^ and to the
great C^;^/i?/^//c;^ of her Head and Offspring \ and
may it be for their and our fpiritual Iniftruftion, Ad- .
monition and Edification in Grace and Holinefs.
So Hezekiah^ the pious King of Judahy turned
his Face to the Wall and prayed, when he was
bid to fut his Houfe in Order for he muft die ;
*' Lord, remember (faid he) how I have walked
before thee with a perfe^ Heart ! — And fo the
bleffed St. Paul look'd Death in the Face and tri-
umphed ; '' the Time of my Departure is at hand,
" 1 have fought a good Fight, I have finilhed
Jt my Courfe, I have kept the Faith ! Hence-
D " forth
26 T/)e Vanity of Man
*^ forth is referved .for me the Crown of Righte-
*' oufnefs ! And not for me only but for all that
*' love his Appearing, — And fo when Dorcas
v/as dead, they wept over Her and told' her good
Deeds^ the Garments Ihe had made for the poor ;
and were going to hury her with Praifes^ in the
midft of Lamentation. — And fo hke Jehoiada
the Pried, let the loweft with the Higheft in the
Congregation^ be named and buried as among the
Kings of Judah j if they have done Good in IfraeL
But then, on the other Hand, 2. The longer
cur Life is, and the greater our Advantages and
Opportunities are for doing Good in the World,
and the more fpecial our Obligations ; and yet the
lefs is done by us \ fo much the more in vain has
our Life been ! and the more Matter of Humilia-
tion^ Mourning and Shajne remains to us ! the
more Sorrow and Fear in a dying Hour, and look-
ing for of Judgment J in the Bay of Christ ! As
it is written, " Cafi the unprofitable Servant into utter
Darknefs', there fhall he weeping and gnafhing of Teeth.
Fourthly^ The fhorter and vainer the prefent iin-
ful Life of Man is, the more let us realize^ and
ftrengthen our Faith in this great Truths — that
GOD never made any Thing in vain ; and that Man
in particular was made in the Perfe5fion of Life and
Happinefs j wife and holy^ for a bleffed Immortality.
The Glory of GOD, and the Honour of his
Creature^ require us to ftrengthen and eftahlifh our
Faith in this firfi Record that GOD has given to
Man concerning Himfelf — GOD made Man for
the beft Ends^ and to the moft glorious Purpofes.
What could be faid more great and good and aU"
guff, than what's faid of Man in his Creation -, Gen.
i. 27;
as Mortal. 27
J. 27. So GOD created Man in his own Imaged
in the Image of GOD created he him, Male and
Female created He them •, and GOD bleffed them,
— Such Man came out of his Maker* 5 Hand, a
living Soul, never to have known Sin or Death,
or to have been fubjet^ed to Vanity ! A Matter
this is worthy of everlafting Remembrance, and a
Subjedt of our perpetual Praifes ! And it will be
fung of for ever in Heaven : Pfal. viii. 5. — ult.
Revel, i V. 1 1 .
We may apply to Man in his Jir/l Eftate, and
give Glory to GOD in thofe chofen IVords of the
xxift Pfalm : '' Thou didft prevent him with the
" BlefTings of Goodnefs ! thou didft put a Crown
'' of pure Gold on his Head I Thou gaveft him
" Life in Perfeftion, even Length of Days for
" ever and ever : Honour and Majejly thou didfl:
*' put upon him, and madeft him moft blejfed for
*' ever ; exceeding glad with the Light of thy Coun-
" tenance ! — Be thou exalted Lord, in thy own
" Strength ! fo will wey?;?^and praife thy Power.
Fifthly, Let this therefore flill and quiet us in
all that GOD orders concerning us, all the Days
of our vain Life, which we pafs as a Shadow,
The Providence of GOD is perfect I there is
no Room for any Sufpicion or Complaint, Expoftu-
lation or Charge refpeding any Thing that may
here befall us. Clouds and Darknefs may be round
about the "Throne of GOD, but Righteoufnefs and
Judgment his Habitation. He dwelleth in that
Light, which no Eye can fee. His Righteoufnefs
is as the great Mountains, while his Judgments are
as the great Beep, Let the One be always before
our Eyes^ while we cannot fee at all into the other,
D 2 He
2ft The Vanity of Man
He 15 2l jealous GOD, and therefore will not beat
that we ihould have any Jealoufy of his Govern-
ment. He is perfedl in Knowledge, we compara-
tively perfedl Ignorance. How unfearcbable are
his Counfels, and his Ways pad finding out !
Every Event of Providence, the dark as well as
the bright, are the IfTue and Refult of his infallible
Foreknowledge and immutable Decrees. — The Cha"
riot with the black Horfes, as well as the white^
came forth alike from between the Mountains of
'Brafs, Zech. yi. i. Thefe are Jhining Mountains
and immoveable : they cad a Light and Glory
upon all that comes forth from between thern.
^h^ black Horks Jhine in the fame Light of GOD,
his Goodnefs, Wifdom, Righteoufnefs and Holi-
nefs, as do the white : And it is of the black, that
it pleafed the Holy One to fay, in the Hearing
of the Prophet •, " Behold these have quieted my
Spirit : Zech. vi. 8. And what quiets the Spirit
of the Lord, Ihould quiet ours ; and will do foi
if \ye defire to be holy wife and good as He is.
I can never forget,how as I was once reading that
Chapter in my Family, thofe Words ftruck me with
a marvellous Light and Force ; reprefenting to me
the perfe6t infinite Complacency which the Soul of
GOD has in all the Events of his Providence ;
which are All and every One of them altogether
fuch as they fhould be ; the full Accomplifhment of
the everlafting Purpofes of his own Wifdom Ho-
lincfs and Grace ; wherein therefore the Holy Spi-
rit of the Lord muft have everlafling Reh and
^iet, Pleafure and Satisfaction. — Can there be a
jnore calming quieting Confideration than this to
the Spirit which GOD has made and fandlified !
|ias iDadc lo nvcrn^ and to be in Subjedion untp
his
as Mortal. 29
kls own holy, perfeft and blefled Will ? — So A-^
hraham*s Spirit was quieted when the Horror of
great Darknefs came upon him, and the Lamp of
Fire pafTed between his divided Sacrifice ; though
it only fhewed him the long fiery Trial in Egypt^
which his Seed were to pafs through in their Way
to Canaan, — And fo the Spirit of Job was quieted
in the Will of GOD, when he bereaved him of all
his Children, Family and Suhftance in one dark Day !
And he faid, " Naked came I out of my Mother's
Womh^ and naked fhall I return ! the Lord ^^'y^and
the Lord has taken, bleffed be the Name of the Lor d.
— But to name a Greater than thefe, — So the Soul
of Christ was quieted, John xii. 28. "Now ismy
Soul troubled, and what fhall I fay ? Father, fave me
from this Hour, but therefore came I unto this
Hour ! Father glorify thy Name,
Let there be then in us a Conformity to our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the Will of our Heavenly Father^
that his Soul may have Pleafure in us, as it has in
Him. — O Believer in Jesus ! may Iy2[yunto thee ?
" 9iuiet the Holy Spirit of GOD, by Quietnefs
and Submiffwn to Him in all thy Afflidions ? This
ihall pleafe the Lord better than the bell Sacrifice
cf Praife thou canft render to him. Behold the Lamb
of GOD, be meek and lowly like Him, and find Reft
ta thy Soul ! it pleafed the Lor d to bruife him and
put him to Grief: He was dumb and opened not
his Mouth ; and the Pleafure of the hoRD profper'd
in his Hand : Defire to be found one of his Seed, and
let Him fee the Travail of his Soul in thy Conformity
to Him.
What ;/ GOD wills, after a Courfc olfhining Cir^
cumftanccs in this World, to break the beauteous
Body or the lovely Mind to Pieces \- and to bring
his
3 a The Vanity of Man
his Cloud over the joyous Houfe and Family, in the
Day even of their worjhiping and feafting as in the
Day of Job ? what belongs to us is, to fall down
and worjhipy — " naked came I out of my Mother* s
Womh^ and naked fhall I return^ the Lord gave and
tbeLjORD hath taken -, blejfed be the Name ofthehoRD.
Pfalm 88. 9, 18. " Mine Eye mourneth byReafon
*' of Afflidion, I have called daily upon thee, I have
*' ftretched out my Hand to thee ! Lover and Friend
" haft thou put far from me and mine Acquaintance
*' into Darknefs. Pfalm 62. 9. Surely Men of
*' low 'Degree are Vanity, and Men of high Degree
** are a Lie I to be laid in the Ballances they are
lighter than Vanity \ My Soul, wait thou only upon
GOB ; for all my Expedtation is from Him,
cc
O that Those who are rifing up among us iny«-
perior Circumftances, and with promifing ExpeElati-
ens from a vain and empty World, would betimes re-
ceive Convi6lion, and learn of the^n^ who have wifely
gone before them, without Elation or Pride of Life,
Sixthly and laftly. The fhorter Time is, and the
'vainer the prefent Life and World may feem to any
of us on the Account thereof -, the more let us fix
our Eyes and fet our Hearts on the Word of GODy
which liveth and abideth for ever^ and is not a vain
^hing^ but is our Life : Let us fet our Heart (I fay)
on that unfeen and eternal World which the Word of
Life fets before us, and requires us to be pafling our
prefent Jhort Life in an earneft and diligent Pre*
paration for.
Let us blefs GOD for Jesus Christ, and the
Words of Eternal Life by Him, who has abolifhed
Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light m
his Gofpel.— My whole ContcPit leads us to Him 5
to
as Mortal. ^i
to ftng of the Mercies of GOD through Him for
ever and ever ; and of the Covenant of GOD with
Him, and in Him with all that believe in and fubmit
to him on the Terms of the Gofpel.
This is the only Support of a pious Soul under the
Vanity of Life, the Profpea of his own Death, and
in his Sorrows over the Dead in Him. If in this Life
only we had Hope we were miferable ; but now is
Christ rifen from the Dead, and become the Firjt-
fruit o{ them thztjleep : for if we belive that Jesus
died and rofe again ; even fo them th^it fleep in Jesus
GOD will bring with Him. We muft raife our
Eyes therefore unto the Glories of that bleffed Day^
and turn them away from beholding Vanity, which
will never never be thought of more ; nor will ever
fuch a Word be heard again from a Saint's Lips ;
but even Devils will confefs refpeding them that they
were not made in vain : — No, happy the D^j' where-
in they were born, and the Night wherein they were
conceived I no Darknefs or any Shadow of "Death can
ever fiain ir, nor any Cloud dwell on it : But GOD
will regard it from above, and his Saints may keep
the Day of their Death', as their blefled Birth-Day
into Glory Honour and Immortality.
^ Morcefpecially, how will the righteous Jhine forth
m the Kingdom o[ their Saviour in the Day of their
Refurredion ? when Christ will quicken their vile
Bodies, and fafhion them according to his own moil
glorious Body ! When the Glory of the Celeftial fhall
iucceed, after the Difhonour of the terreflial is ceafed
tor ever ! When what was fown in Corruption Ihall
htraifed in Incorruption ! what was fown in Weak-
«<?A fhall be raifed in Power \ and the prefent natu-
ral Uody Ihall bcrait.Ma/^/n///«/ \^Such is the Re~
furredion
3 2 ih^ Vanity of Man &c.
furreftion of thej^y?, and bleffed and holy forever
are all ^hey that have Part therein.
Let us therefore be greatly quickned by the hlejfed
Hope to pafs our Jhort Time and vain Life here, in
the moft ferious and earned Endeavours to attain that
Worlds even the Refurre5iion of the Juft. Let not
the Vanity and Shortnefs of the prefent Life be com-
plained of, but improved. Our Time is a Talent of in-
finite Price^ for our diligent redeeming and improving
till our Lord fhall come •, and blejfed is that Servant
whom the LORD when he cometh^ fhall find fo doing.
We have liv'd to good Purpofe if we get well to
Heaven. We fhall then find that our Life and La-
bour has not been in vain in the Lord. Nay the
fhorter our Life is, and the fooner we have begun to
live to GOD, the more wonderful is the Gain and
Advantage made ! How abundant is the Reward of
a fhort Life of Duty and Sufferings ! how vafl that
and how fmall thefe ! How light and for a Moment
the One, and what an eternal Weight the other ! as
the Apoflle teaches us to reckon and eflimate, Rom.
viii. 1 8. That the Sufferings of the prefent Life are
not worthy to be compared^ with the Glory to be re-
vealed : — for which Caufe f fays he) we Jaint not ;
2 Cor. iv. ult. But though our outward Man perifh
yet the inward is renewed Day by Day ; for our light
yiffliSlion^ which is but for a Moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory I
while we look not at the Things that zxtfeen^ but at
the Things that are unfeen ; for the Things which
are feen are temporal^ but the Things which are not
fern are eternal.
FINIS.
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